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BOOKS
Dilli O Dilli
Traversing
the past and exploring the present of the nation's capital
By
R.V. Smith
Delhi
has had a chequered existence right from the primeval past to the ultra-modern
present. It has been an eternal metropolis where 17 cities have arisen
since the time of the Indraprastha of the Pandavas when Hastinapur was
their kingdom. The vast sweep of the rise and fall of civilisations and
dynasties finds a befitting chronicle in The Millennium Book on New Delhi,
complete with colourful photographs that vividly capture both the past
and the present. Truly the city has been the beloved of all and mistress
of none.
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THE
MILLENNIUM BOOK ON NEW DELHI
Ed by B.P.Singh & Pavan K.Varma
Oxford
Price:
Rs 2,900
Pages: 257
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And
yet one wonders why this exhaustive treatise has not been entitled The
Millennium Book of Delhi instead of New Delhi, which is but a recent city
planned by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker at the behest of the imperial
British in the wake of the coronation durbar of 1911, when the seat of
power was transferred back here from Calcutta. But it is worth noting
that the capital of India is Delhi and not New Delhi, for the former envelops
the latter because of its 3,000-odd-year antiquity. However, it cannot
be said with certainty that Delhi is 3,450 years old and that it got its
name in 57 B.C. from Raja Dhilu.
This slick volume has given definite dates on the founding of Delhi, which
even antiquarians, archaeologists and historians do not attempt to do.
The emphasis is on tradition just as we contemplate that Troy existed
some 3,000 years ago and that it was destroyed when Helen was seduced
by Paris, after which the survivors of the Trojan war founded what is
now Italy and then Rome.
From Raja Dhilu there's a big jump to Anang Pal Tomar who is believed
to have brought Chandragupta's Iron Pillar in the 11th century after his
ancestor Anang Pal I had established himself in Delhi. Then came Prithviraj
Chauhan, who built his Qila Rai Pithora in 1180 A.D. (and this can be
said to be a historical date). Eleven years later Mohammad Ghori invaded
Delhi but lost the battle, only to return the next year and establish
Muslim rule in India, which even Mahmud of Ghazni had not been able to
achieve 100 years earlier. Then came the Slave dynasty, the Khiljis, Tuglaqs,
Sayyids, Lodhis and then the Mughals (who overshadowed all these dynasties).
It was from them that the British took over and when they left India was
independent.
All this and more is there in the book whose contributors include B.P.
Singh, Pavan Varma, Khushwant Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Sunita Kohli, Premlata
Puri, Ranjit Lal, Madhu Jain, Mark Tully, Bibek Debroy and H.K. Kaul.
Each has distinguished him/herself with articles such as a historical
sketch, transition from colonial to republican capital, creation of a
planned city, flora and fauna, the city of happenings, living heritage,
travails of the metropolis, economic and institutional profile. There's
a nice introduction, a good epilogue and a lively chronology.
But despite these some blemishes remain. Amir Khusrau-whose date of birth
is given as 1235-was not three years older than Nizamuddin Aulia (B. 1238),
but about 20 years younger and he was not just the court musician of Alauddin
Khilji. Humayun died in 1556 not 1557, his tomb was built by Haji Begum
and not Hamida Bano, who was his second wife and mother of Akbar. Zakir
Husain spelt his name with one 's', so does M.F. Husain. Akbar's nurse
was Maham not Mahim Anga. Thomas Metcalfe, not his elder brother Charles,
built Metcalfe House. Bhagat Singh was hanged, not given life imprisonment.
The rear view of Jama Masjid is from Chawri Bazar not Nai Sarak. The first
chief executive councillor - not 'counseller' - was not Kedarnath Sahni.
Mir Taqi Mir was born in Agra not near it, as the city was then known
as Akbarabad. Bibi Akbarabadi built an Akbarabadi Masjid too and not just
Faiz Bazar.
However, these slip-ups, and the one in the map in which Mayapuri is missing,
do not detract from the merits of the book-a real gift of the new millennium!
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